Rating: 
Summary: True to Life
Review: I, like Mr. Buford, lived as a priveleged American in London during the heydey of bootboys and hooligans in the early and mid 70's. I was a teenager and a wannabe-hooligan, too young (early teens) to be a real hooligan. I travelled extensively on the "football specials" to away games, among them a 1973 FA Cup semifinal at Hillsborough (scene of the 1996 disaster that ended standing on the terraces forever), and the danger of violence was expected and palpable. I recall a lovely spring day in Southampton where hooligans in motorcycle helmets roamed the streets smashing milk bottles on heads in a completely random fashion. Unlike some readers, I found his descriptions dead-on accurate. The discussion of crowd theory and when things change right before they "go off" was fascinating, as well as absolutely true. The part of the book I found odd was the change of opinion from wanting to study his topic to throwing up his hands and deciding there was nothing to study. What's the conclusion, or are there none? I am happy to report that those days are, for the most part, over. Having recently returned from England, the ticket pricing, and all-seater stadiums, have eliminated the hooligan mobs at football matches. the reason the hooligans rampage in continental Europe is because that's all that is left (there are still terraces in much of Europe). Domestically, many of the football venues described by Mr. Buford have been torn down or rebuilt as all-seater stadia.
Rating:
Summary: Extreme Football, and I Don't Mean XFL
Review: To say that this work of nonfiction is about football is like saying The Godfather is about the mob. On a simple level, yes, it is about football fandom in England -- but there's so much more. I'd think that sociologists would love to get their hands on this book, especially the ones who study crowd dynamics, because that is undoubtedly Among the Thugs's greatest feat. What separates this book from most other crowd studies is that Buford fully immerses himself into the situation. Like the way Johnny Depp the cop becomes Donnie Brasco the gangster, Buford becomes a hooligan. He infiltrates their club and becomes a member, and we see their crazy, desperate violence from the primary source.It's a dream come true -- none of these hooligans are smart enough to analyze their own psyches, but Buford, being infinitely smarter and aware, is able to report on being a hooligan. Haven't you ever wondered what might be going through an animal's mind? Here we have the answer. I don't know if I like the answer, but it's there, and it's as true as true journalism can get. Buford was just a real pleasure to read, his self-deprecating humor making me chuckle many times over. His description of British football and its fans was so real that I felt almost uncomfortable. They're all animals, every last of'em! I'll be happy if I never see a soccer match live as long as I live. The only part of the book I didn't enjoy was Part 3, Dusseldorf. I thought it slowed down significantly, and I wondered just why he kept going on. Then I noticed another chapter followed, Sardinia, and sighed. But Sardinia is worth it. It is absolutely where the book should have ended. Until Sardinia, I thought to myself, "What hasn't Buford done?" Read Sardinia. You'll see. - SJW
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining/fascinating on many different levels
Review: Bill Buford's "Among the Thugs" is one of the most engaging books I've read in a long time. The first thing that is fascinating was his ability to "infiltrate" and gain the trust of the Manchester United supporters. This trust was not easily gained, but once attained it took him into several unforgettable situations. Looking at the book within the wider scope of mob & crowd violence is an interesting point of view. Buford argues that once one person crosses the "threshold of violence" in a group then everyone feels like its okay. The larger the group is the easier it is to negate an individual's responsibility. He talks at length about the phenonmenon of the crowd taking on its dynamic and how the individual gets sucked into the moment and passion. Anyone that has ever attended a sporting event, a large concert or a street festival can surely attest to the excitement that exists when vast numbers of people are assembled. Add violence to that recipe of large crowds and excitement and you have a potential disaster on your hands. His tales of people that engage in violence as a form or recreation are befuddling and fascinating. Buford's writing draws you into the fervor of the crowd and you find yourself always wondering if "its going to go off." (A phrase used throughout the book.) Aside from looking at the book in a larger sociological frame of reference, it is also quite enthralling as personal anecdote. Buford goes to Italy (twice) and all over England with a bunch of rowdy bruisers and other places in Europe. It is interesting to see how someone with such a good education and an upbringing different from the other supporters (Buford is American) could so easily get swept along in all the excitement. He never participates in the violence himself (although some could argue repeatedly witnessing this behaviour with no intervention would be a form of violence) he eventually pays the price for running "among the thugs." I HIGHLY recommend this book as a sociological study, a travel diary of sorts, as well as just a fine piece of writing. I wanted to comment on the one reviewer that mentioned that he thought these things weren't possible to get away with or that they are exaggerated. Either the whole country of England has got the rest of the world duped or these things really happen. I've talked with several people from the UK that don't know each other and they all have stories to tell of things they've either witnessed or participated in at football (soccer) matches. Not only that, but this behaviour (which is only engaged in by a SMALL PORTION of fans) is a great source of embarrassment for the rest of the honest sport loving supporters of the UK.
Rating:
Summary: What Makes Some Peple Tick?
Review: This book is a verbal news photo from the front. I liked it. It adequately explains and describes behaviour and people that can only be classified as perverse.While the author's methodology cannot be described as objective in a traditional sense because of his participation in the rituals of hooliganism, this participation is the book's essential strength in that it tells of this violent, perverse and mindless experience firsthand.This book is unique in that it describes an event and the experience of the event and does justice to both.Among the Thugs brings new meaning to the the old expression: "Don't knock it till you've tried it."
Rating:
Summary: Oh, come on!
Review: Among the Thugs is highly entertaining: it's Michael Herr meets Bill Bryson--a hybrid that has produced a documentary of the British hooligan phenomenon that is at once gripping, frightening, appalling, sickening, very funny, and, maybe, BS! What really bothers me about this book is the recurrent disconnect between over-the-top acts of violence and the consequences thereof. Buford's graphic description of homicidal aggression is never seen with a meaningful (i.e. consistent with human nature) aftermath. For example, supporters (the rabid hooligan-fans) visiting Turin, Italy, trash the city, leaving anyone in their wake beaten to a pulp, perhaps murdered; and then the next day, for all intents and purposes, the Italian perspective is portrayed as a sort of grumbling resentment as opposed to, say, murderous rage. In the most unbelievable episode, a supporter blunders into a party (comprised of police officers, no less), and assaults one of the guests in such a manner as to surpass your most deranged, paranoid and sadistic fantasies. In the next scene, the supporter rejoins his wife at home, albeit with a great quantity of blood on his shirt (la-di-freakin'-da). I mean, how did he get out of there and then elude capture (believe me, this guy would be hunted down as if he were public enemy number one)? But in spite of some wide credibility gaps, Buford chillingly describes mob and crowd dynamics, the creepy fascistic underpinnings of this scene, and the working class vacuum that is filled by this malignant sense of purpose. I'm just not sure if I can believe it all. Dick Singer, Dallas
Rating: 
Summary: Gullible and sensationalistic
Review: This book is well written, and that is the only positive thing about it. The author suggests that he immersed himself in the life of English hooligans. However, as a result of all of all these years of "immersion", the author relates just seven hooligan related incidents which he himself witnessed. And Buford tells us that he remembers nothing at all or very little about four of these incidents. All the rest of the book is hearsay: sensational (or sensationalised) accounts at second or third hand. The much quoted horrific account of the policemen whose eye was sucked out and bitten off is an example of this. Buford did not witness this himself: the story is double hearsay and dragged into it. The incident (if it ever happened) was not related to football hooliganism at all! Prestige and telling tall stories is part of what football hooliganism is all about, so it is often impossible to distinguish fact from fiction from embellishment in accounts of "heroic" exploits by hooligans. But Buford swallowed it all.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling, deeply disturbing, thrilling, a voyuer's trip
Review: This book will put you into the shoes and mind of the football thug. The American author of this non-fiction book enters into the fold of British football hooligans, in an attempt to better understand their group dynamics and the phenomenon of football violence... in the process he gets more than he bargained for... as a participative observer / undercover reporter he enters into an explosive environment. The author writes vividly and on many levels... his writing is funny, very observant, almost poetic, and shocking... he paints endearing (yet double edged) portraits of seemingly harmless fans who are transformed into demons when they're placed in the gang environment. Among other things, this book is a journey into the mind and life of the thug... the author refrains from moral judgment, he tries to absorb himself fully, and he is transformed during the course of the book to a point where he's instinctively aggresive towards strangers. After a while the author can't seem to recognize himself by his behaviour... we witness the once liberal minded reporter becomes a lout, a thug, one of the lads. This book has a verve, that can't be found in dull scientific prose, it has a pulse, which makes it compulsive reading, aka a page turner.
Rating:
Summary: This story is as ugly as the lad on the cover.
Review: Buford spent several years closely involved with various English football (soccer) hooligans. This is really the story of how his initial interest in crowd behavior developed into a morbid fascination, finally becoming revulsion. It's an interesting look at a world few Americans know anything about.
Rating:
Summary: An honest account
Review: Buford's experiences with football (soccer) hooligans, most of them supporters of Manchester United, is an honest and brutal account of what is out there. Fanatical devotion coupled with fringe politics and dreary labor situations combine to create a breed of dangerous football supporter. Buford's tales of traveling to away matches, skirmishes with supporters of other clubs (as well as police), and the characters and psychology behind it all make for a fascinating book that is difficult to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Book
Review: No movie or work of fiction encapsulates the pure animal violence of this brilliant non fiction work. I have not recommended any book to friends more than this one. Now, I'm not a violent man by nature, but reading true accounts of how far into the depths of rage and mob destruction my fellow man is capable of, I find absolutely fascinating. Right up there with In Cold Blood (Non fiction) and Clockwork Orange (fictionalized vile-lence). I can just imagine how these guys get prepared for the games: "The First rule of (our) Football club is you dont talk about Football club. the 2nd rule is..." although enjoyable, it turns out to be rather sad in the end but I won't dwell upon that. Read it.
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